The 21 best street style looks at Montreal’s new and improved Festival of Design and Fashion

by Patricia Gajo August 25, 2014

Montreal Festival Design Fashion — Photography by Nicolas Gouin

See the street style from Montreal’s Festival of Design and Fashion »

The now defunct Semaine de mode Montréal (a.k.a. Montreal Fashion Week) has been replaced by the Montreal Festival of Design and Fashion [http://www.festivalmodedesign.com/en], a week-long festivity celebrating all things fashion and design. The festival’s first edition was met with much fanfare, as the city’s most stylish showed up en masse to take part.

This year, a mini-series of Masterclass-style talks were given by über-blogger Garance Doré, Nathalie Rykiel (yup, daughter of Sonia) who was honorary president of the festival this year, and the ever-handsome Thierry-Maxime Loriot, curator of the exhibit currently doing world tour rounds: “The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier–From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk.” Handpicked by Garance Doré, six Montreal designers put on one show at the Musée d’art contemporain. A cross-section of the city’s best and brightest UNTTLD, Ying Gao, Mylène B., Travis Taddeo, Ève Gravel and Niapso Design all shared the stage.

The city’s now infamous outdoor catwalk moved from McGill College Avenue to a new venue at Quartier des spectacles, giving festival-goers (about half a million each year) more space to sashay through the crowds. Runway shows featured a mix of local designers, student collections and retailers. And as per tradition, one of the last events of the week featured a late-night eyeful of lingerie courtesy of La Vie en Rose—because a party ain’t a Montreal party unless there’s a little bit (or a lot) of skin involved.